A World Without Pain
by Incandescent Foxfire
Summary: This takes place shortly before the game starts, where undercover AVALANCHE techies take on the ShinRa army with a (hopefully) surprising ending. Please R


A World Without Pain  
  
The story of Inner AVALANCHE  
  
A soldier dressed in the blue uniform of a guard hurried down the hallways of the 43rd floor of the famed ShinRa HQ. He ran as if hell were chasing after him…and in all reality, that wasn't far off from the truth. The sound of machine guns filled his ears, so he discarded his helmet in the hallway, rounding a corner just as bullets began to pelt the wall in front of him. The soldier burst into a room that was wide open. There were four sets of four sofas arranged in a square, with glass coffee tables. To both sides of the soldier were windows, looking out upon the dark city of Midgar. It was a marvelous view, if only the soldier had time to enjoy it. The blue clad person dove over one of the sofas, turning it over to give good cover. Three more blue-clad soldiers hurried into the room, and the first one opened fire towards the three, bullets sinking into the skin and armor of the fool who entered first. The other two hurried to take cover behind a sofa of their own, and the gunfight began to heat up. It was about a minute or so before the running soldier's gun clicked. A noise that only meant that he was out of ammunition. He looked back to the fallen soldier, a puddle of crimson staining the carpet. The soldier frowned, and then stood up, arms held up as a signal for surrender. The other two stopped firing.  
  
"Drop your weapon!" one shouted.  
  
The lone soldier replied, "It's empty, idiot." That shut the soldier up. The two soldiers stood up and began walking towards the soldier who had been fleeing them. This soldier glanced the right. Had the soldier not stopped at the sofa, he could've perhaps gotten to the elevator. But, he had made the smart move. The door would've never opened and closed in time. When the soldiers got to the area between their two square groups of sofas, the soldier stepped forward into the light.  
  
"What the…" the first soldier exclaimed, "…a…a girl?!"  
  
The female soldier blinked, and then placed her hands on her hips. She sighed at the two, shaking her head, "Who'd you expect? Sephiroth?" She laughed lightly, and then, seeing that the two soldiers had lowered their weapons, the girl dove for the machine gun lying on the dead soldier. The two other blue-clad men raised their weapons and began to fire, but the girl rolled forward, getting a bit of blood on her left shoulder, and in her golden hair. She raised her weapon, firing off a burst of three bullets at each of the soldiers. The first just slumped to the ground. The other fell back, tripping over a sofa, and his head collided with a coffee table, shattering the clear glass. The blonde nodded slowly, and walked over their corpses to the elevator. She had stepped inside, and the door was beginning to close, when three soldiers came around the corner into the lounge. They were clad in red, wearing silver helmets. They had bangles of iron on their left forearms, baggy clothing to allow for the easiest of movement. Two slits in their helms were what they saw through, for they relied mostly on sound to give them information. These were the elite forces of ShinRa, none other than SOLDIER. The woman gasped, and stepped back to the back of the elevator, just as the door shut. A "ping" noise came from the elevator doorbell, and it began to sink.  
  
The door reopened, and the blonde girl hurried down the hallway, just as three more SOLDIER members clad in red leaped down the last set of stairs next to the elevator, seeming to defy gravity itself with their grace. They landed without a sound, and began to hurry down the hallway, each carrying a massive buster sword. They were trained for excellence, and fused with a chemical known as mako, to create, in all reality, super soldiers. This is why they didn't have any trouble catching up with the blonde girl. The first of the three soldiers leaped into the air, like a raptor would on Jurassic Park. His head almost rammed into the ceiling, though they were also trained how to leap in compact places, such as hallways or caves. He used the flat edge of his sword, practically landing on the girl, sending her face first into the pale off-white carpet. He flipped over her, and landed to her other side, so the three surrounded the girl in the hallway, with two behind her, and one in front of her, blocking her escape.  
  
The girl stood up, staring at the SOLDIER leader in front of her. He approached her, and she raised her gun to fire a few shots. "No way am I going down like this…" she thought to herself. A few bullets sunk into the leader's red armor, but he didn't falter. One of the men behind her came around, seeming to glide on the floor like ice, and his sword chopped the machine gun in half. The half that she wasn't holding fell harmlessly to the ground. She dropped her gun, and stepped back. A strong arm snaked about her upper torso, practically crushing her ribs…at least, that's what it felt like. The third SOLDIER had her in his grasp, and the other two proceeded towards her. She screamed, tears beginning to stream down her face. She felt a light pain in her temples, and then all went black…  
  
"What?! Dead?!?" a blue clad soldier cried out. There were three of them in a room. It looked like a giant janitorial closet. Brooms, mops, numerous chemicals that could remove 4-year-old gum from a sidewalk, and anything else that could have a child reeling in nightmares for a week surrounded them. They each had their helmets off. One of them wore a red breast pad, signifying that he was a grenadier. He was the one that spoke.  
  
"She might as well be…" the only woman of the group replied. She had snowy white hair that always seemed frizzled, so the others often called her Ice. The grenadier had crimson hair, quite messy from having just taken his helmet off. He was their youngest member, only about 15 or so. His name was Dac. The last was a brown-haired male, the first member of this clan. His name was Biggs. "She's set for execution today, in about an hour."  
  
"We've got to do something!" Dac cried. He shook his head, fighting tears that were already stinging his eyes.  
  
"I'm working on it, Dac…I'm working on it," Biggs replied, "But Barret's force needs my help."  
  
"I know…Sis told me," Dac replied.  
  
Ice placed her hand on Dac's shoulder. She was no older than 17. She smiled softly to him, saying, "Come on…we'll save her. Let's get ready. We'll need cover, though…" Dac nodded. Cover was his specialty. They gathered around the low light that dangled above them, its light flickering a few times, and proceeded to plan out their actions…  
  
There must've been 300 troops in the room. It was an all-metal room, taking up the entire 45th floor. They were in box formations 8 wide and 10 deep. It was the typical ShinRa soldier formation. Dac was alone with the grenadiers, but Biggs and Ice were next to each other. All three had managed to get in the front row. They were staring at their comrade, who was sitting in a wooden chair, in some sort of glass tube. She apparently had her hands tied behind her back. She looked tired…tired of pain. She had that look as if someone had just given her 100 lashings. She looked up towards Biggs and Ice, recognizing them, even though they had their helmets on.  
  
A man was near the top of the room, standing on a square platform being swerved around by a robotic arm. He was fat, and that was an understatement. He had blonde hair, though he kept it short, and his whiskers were neatly trimmed. His suit was the color of blood, and some say that this man drank blood by the ounces. This was the man who controlled all of Midgar, and perhaps most of the world. This was the man behind the predestined murder of the planet. This was President ShinRa. He was giving a speech…as he usually does.  
  
"…And this may prove that there are traitors out there. They call themselves AVALANCHE. We've known about them for quite some time now…" Dac gasped, but Ice looked over at him as if to say, "Lies, nothing more!" Dac got the message and straightened back up into a past-perfect posture.  
  
"…And we WILL get them. They are infesting everything in ShinRa, like misguided sewer rats. For the sake of Midgar, we must put a stop to them. But that's not why I brought you here today…no. I brought you here, because we have recently learned that there are AVALANCHE members inside of ShinRa. This, my soldiers…my comrades…is one of them. She, who has worked alongside you for days, nothing but a traitor to the planet! How many of these are there? Take a look around you. How do you know that the person you're standing next to isn't one of these pieces of scum? Well…we will find them. We will slowly exterminate them as we find them…one by one. And now! Professor Hojo! Bring out your latest creation, and exterminate this foul beast!"  
  
Two red-clad SOLDIER members walked into the glass tube that separated the girl from the rest of the world. They untied her hands, but when she was freed, she was too tired to even throw a punch. They stepped back out, and a man dressed in a white lab coat walked into the room, taking with him a large, metal box, the size of the glass cage. Dac suddenly jumped forward, and he turned, pointing at a random soldier behind him, "He's got a bomb!! Everyone get out of here!!"  
  
The room erupted into panic, Biggs and Ice hurrying forward as soldiers began to scramble everywhere. The president was saying something to try and calm the soldiers, as well as shout orders to the two men clad in red. Nothing was heard, though…and if anything was, it was ignored. Hojo himself had already fled, the door to the metal box and the glass cage already aligned. The blonde girl looked up to see the door open, and mist filled her cage. Biggs rammed into one side of the metal box, pushing it away from the door. Just then, a…creature of some sort…leaped out of the box. It began to chase after the soldiers about the room. Ice hurried into the cage, and she looked at the blonde girl.  
  
Soldiers formed little groups to sort of make sure no one was in AVALANCHE. It took them a few moments to realize that their execution was cut off. A few groups of soldiers, as well as the red warriors, began to attack the creature. However…whatever the thing was, it was too powerful for them, and anyone dressed in blue that went up against it ended up no more than a bloody heap on the ground.  
  
Dac hurried to the glass cage…too late to help, of course. Biggs and Ice had already removed her from the room. He looked about, and then, suddenly, he realized a lot of people were looking at him…a LOT of people. Even the president was looking down at him. Dac used this moment of silence to activate an explosive on his belt, and he rolled it towards the largest group of soldiers, quickly running to the stairs nearest him. The explosion rocked the floor as he slid into the stairway…literally, since he flipped over the railing and rolled down the first set of stairs…  
  
Ice hurried up the stairway, Biggs carrying their comrade over his shoulder. They were racing for the 49th floor, where they could hop onto an elevator. They broke into the lounge area, where the sofas were only in groups of two, but there were still four groups of them. Biggs ran to the elevator first, while Ice turned back to the doorway when she was about halfway across the room. He raised her left hand over her head, and began to channel energies unlocked only by the knowledge of the Ancients…  
  
…When Dac recovered, he looked about. Footsteps were above him, clanking against the metal stairs. They were drawing closer. Dac looked to the door beside him. It read clearly, "43rd floor." He stood, bursting out through the door, and he hurried down a hallway. The first part of the floor was actually an armory. Dac looked about at all of the items, and grabbed two items. One was a backpack; the other was a machine gun. Then, hearing the door open, he run down the hallway. He sprinted down through the cream- colored walls, and rounded a corner just as bullets began to pelt the wall in front of him. Strange, though, because it seemed as if that wall had bullet holed in it recently. He rushed into a room with four couches arranged in squares around glass coffee tables…  
  
…Soldiers began to rush through the 49th floor door, but a pool of water that had just recently turned to ice greeted them. Wearing their heavy boots, the blue clad soldiers couldn't keep their balance, and ended up all falling over one another, just as the elevator doors shut.  
  
Biggs set the girl down, and he patted her cheek, "Are you alright?"  
  
The girl just looked up at them with hazy, clouded over eyes. She did not reply. The door opened, and they all stood up. Despite her weariness, all three hurried down the hallway. When they rounded the corner, however, three red-clad SOLDIER members turned to face them. Slowly, they began their approach….  
  
…Dac turned about, raising his gun to aim towards the hallway. An elevator bell made a "ping" sound, and he whirled around to face the noise's source. Both elevator doors opened, and from them each came three red-clad warriors. From the hallway came three blue clad soldiers. He looked about at all of them as one of the red-clad stepped forward, "Drop your weapons. You are surrounded, AVALANCHE."  
  
Dac smiled lightly, "Really. Don't you know an avalanche never stops once it begins?" The soldier raised an eyebrow at this, though it wasn't seen behind his silver visor. Dac took out one of explosive devices and activated it. He threw it up into the air when the first bullet ricocheted off his metal shoulder pad, two more sinking into his red breast pad. He turned, firing a few shots at the window, and then he rammed his body into the window. It shattered up impact, and he flew out of the building. Just before he left the floor, however, he pivoted on his right foot, turning to face the soldiers. He unleashed a series of bullets towards them as he began to fall, not sure how many soldiers he took down…  
  
…The three stood, facing the creature. It was the same one that came out of the metal box on the 45th floor. How it made it down so many steps was a question. But, it turned to them, snarling. Biggs raised his gun and began to pick apart its forehead's flesh with his machine gun. Ice once again began to call forth her magical energies, the only one which held materia of the three. The blonde girl just stared in horror. She said feebly up to Biggs, "…I'm so sorry."  
  
Biggs shook his head, "No! You aren't dead yet! An avalanche doesn't stop!"  
  
…Dac fell. It was simple. The law of gravity drew him towards the ground at an alarming rate. Or…at least…it should have. However, as Dac's descent began, he pulled a string attached to his backpack. The pack flew open, and from it, came a parachute. He looked below him, dropping the empty clip in his machine gun, and he took a full one from his belt and slapped it into the gun, checking it to make sure it was ready. He was nervous…  
  
"We're all just fools…" Ice admitted in her own mind. She shook her head slowly, having just witnessed her spell have little effect upon the creature that stood before them. Its fangs were bloody with the remains of the many it had devoured. It reeked of death. Its four legs had blades on the midway joints, and each padded foot was armed with at least three razor- sharp claws, probably tipped with poison, just incase somehow, its victim survived its dicing attacks. It had killed, and would kill again, until someone killed it. Such is the law for many of Hojo's creations. Many of them…  
  
…The blonde girl stepped forward, her eyes glowing furiously, "No more!" She walked towards the beast. When Biggs tried to stop her, she simply threw him aside like a rag doll. He slumped down against the wall. He was shaken, but he wasn't hurt badly. Ice, after watching Biggs, didn't bother trying. The girl walked to the corpse of a downed red-clad. She picked up the heavy sword that each of those warriors were assigned, and she faced the creature…  
  
…As Dac passed the 10th floor, he could hear shouts from inside. There were cries of terror, pain…death. The forever scream that is emitted from the throats of those who were dying, the scream that seemed to echo in one's mind long after they had passed on to the Lifestream. However…in the window, he spotted something. The figure was dressed in blue, like a soldier. Though the gun he was holding somehow looked different…  
  
…The creature dove for the blonde girl's legs, but the leaped upward. She literally flew. No normal human could ever achieve such height. As her jump reached its arc, time itself seemed to slow. She began to sink in the air, the sword held high over her head. Finally, like a lightning strike, she dropped. The creature's head was removed with a single, clean, downward hack. It writhed on the floor momentarily, gave a jerk or two, and then, it simply…disintegrated. It first turned a transparent red, and then, it faded away…  
  
…Ice noticed it then…a glint of metal crossing the path of the light. Biggs saw it just as Ice was reaching out to try and reach the blonde girl. The blonde's eyes suddenly shot open wide. A small, red circle was beginning to form in her abdomen area, close to the area between her breasts. She fell to her knees, looking up towards Ice and Biggs, who were already becoming no more than blurs of blue…  
  
…Dac unclipped his parachute, falling atop the sniper, though it was too late. The shot had been fired. He landed atop the man's back, and together, they fell from the open window, down all 10 feet to the floor beneath them, which was splattered with bloody goo from the creature before it had died. Dac had used the sniper for a fall break, so he wasn't hurt badly, though the sniper's ribs were crushed, killing him instantly. Dac looked up, watching a wave of golden settle about a woman's shoulders. She was on her knees, and she fell forward, into a comrade's arms. He hurried forward to Ice and Biggs, skidding a foot or so as he came to a stop beside them. Ice had caught her, and was comforting her. Already, as ShinRa troops do whenever an internal conflict occurs, they surrounded the base of the tower. Dac and Biggs both raised their guns for the glass doors, ready to fight for their lives. One of the lives they were fighting for, though, was beginning to slip from them.  
  
Glowing eyes stared up at the three. They had fought together for longer than they could all remember. It was as if they had always been fighting ShinRa, since they were children. She made a silent swear to herself that moment. Her eyes closed, tilting her head back. For perhaps the first time in her life, her golden hair was a mess. Ice laid her friend down, and stood to face the door alongside Dac and Biggs. They awaited the guns…the countless soldiers that were standing on the other side of the glass doors.  
  
She was dead. They were hopelessly outnumbered. Inner AVALANCHE had met its match. They could only wait for the coupe de grace. Each one silently smiled to the others. Dac thought of his sister…Jessie. Biggs thought of Tifa's food and drinks. Ice thought of silent vengeance. She raised her left hand over her head, as always, preparing a spell. The door whooshed open, and Dac and Biggs pulled their triggers, sending a first wave of bullets towards their oncoming opponents. 


End file.
